Posttranslational processing and differential glycosylation of Tractin, an Ig-superfamily member involved in regulation of axonal outgrowth

Multiple changes in peptide and lipid expression associated with regeneration in the nervous system of the medicinal leech

BACKGROUND

The adult medicinal leech central nervous system (CNS) is capable of regenerating specific synaptic circuitry after a mechanical lesion, displaying evidence of anatomical repair within a few days and functional recovery within a few weeks. In the present work, spatiotemporal changes in molecular distributions during this phenomenon are explored. Moreover, the hypothesis that neural regeneration involves some molecular factors initially employed during embryonic neural development is tested.

RESULTS

Imaging mass spectrometry coupled to peptidomic and lipidomic methodologies allowed the selection of molecules whose spatiotemporal pattern of expression was of potential interest. The identification of peptides was aided by comparing MS/MS spectra obtained for the peptidome extracted from embryonic and adult tissues to leech transcriptome and genome databases. Through the parallel use of a classical lipidomic approach and secondary ion mass spectrometry, specific lipids, including cannabinoids, gangliosides and several other types, were detected in adult ganglia following mechanical damage to connected nerves. These observations motivated a search for possible effects of cannabinoids on neurite outgrowth. Exposing nervous tissues to Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) receptor agonists resulted in enhanced neurite outgrowth from a cut nerve, while exposure to antagonists blocked such outgrowth.

CONCLUSION

The experiments on the regenerating adult leech CNS reported here provide direct evidence of increased titers of proteins that are thought to play important roles in early stages of neural development. Our data further suggest that endocannabinoids also play key roles in CNS regeneration, mediated through the activation of leech TRPVs, as a thorough search of leech genome databases failed to reveal any leech orthologs of the mammalian cannabinoid receptors but revealed putative TRPVs. In sum, our observations identify a number of lipids and proteins that may contribute to different aspects of the complex phenomenon of leech nerve regeneration, establishing an important base for future functional assays.

Regeneration and asexual reproduction share common molecular changes: upregulation of a neural glycoepitope during morphallaxis in Lumbriculus

Neural morphallaxis is a regenerative process characterized by wide-spread anatomical and physiological changes in an adult nervous system. During segmental regeneration of the annelid worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, neural morphallaxis involved a reorganization of sensory, interneuronal, and motor systems as posterior fragments gained a more anterior body position. A monoclonal antibody, Lan 3-2, which labels a neural glyco-domain in the leech, was reactive in Lumbriculus. In the worm, this antibody labeled neural structures, particularly axonal tracts and giant fiber pathways of the central nervous system. A 60kDa protein, possessing a lumbriculid mannose-rich glycoepitope, was upregulated during neural morphallaxis, peaking in its expression at 3 weeks post-amputation. Peak upregulation of the Lan 3-2 epitope, or the protein possessing it, corresponded to the time of major neurobehavioral plasticity during regeneration. Analyses of asexually reproducing animals also revealed induction of the Lan 3-2 epitope. In this developmental context, Lan 3-2 epitope upregulation was also confined to segments expressing both changes in positional identity and neurobehavioral plasticity, but these molecular and behavioral changes occurred prior to body fragmentation. These results suggest that the lumbriculid Lan 3-2 glycoepitope and proteins that bear them have been co-opted for neural morphallactic programs, induced both in anticipation of reproductive fragmentation and in compensation for injury-induced fragmentation.

Leech filamin and Tractin: markers for muscle development and nerve formation

The Lan3-14 and Laz10-1 monoclonal antibodies recognize a 400 kDa antigen that is specifically expressed by all muscle cells in leech. We show that the antigen recognized by both antibodies is a member of the filamin family of actin binding proteins. Leech filamin has two calponin homology domains and 35 filamin/ABP-repeat domains. In addition, we used the Laz10-1 antibody to characterize the development of the segmentally iterated dorsoventral flattener muscles. We demonstrate that the dorsoventral flattener muscle develops as three discrete bundles of myofibers and that CNS axons pioneering the DP nerve extend only along the middle bundle. Interestingly, the middle dorsoventral muscle anlage is associated with only non-neuronal expression of the L1-family cell adhesion molecule Tractin. This expression is transient and occurs at the precise developmental stages when DP nerve formation takes place. Based on these findings we propose that the middle dorsoventral muscle anlagen provides a substrate for early axonal outgrowth and nerve formation and that this function may be associated with differential expression of distinct cell adhesion molecules.

In vivo dynamics of CNS sensory arbor formation: a time-lapse study in the embryonic leech

In the embryo of the leech Hirudo medicinalis, afferent projections of peripheral sensory neurons travel along common nerve tracts to the CNS, where they defasciculate, branch, and arborize into separate, modality-specific synaptic laminae. Previous studies have shown that this process requires, at least in part, the constitutive and then modality-specific glycosylations of tractin, a leech L1 homologue. We report here on the dynamics of growth of these projections as obtained by examining the morphology of single growing dye-filled sensory afferents as a function of time. Using 2-photon laser-scanning microscopy of the intact developing embryo, we obtained images of individual sensory projections at 3 to 30 min intervals, over several hours of growth, and at different stages of development. The time-lapse series of images revealed a highly dynamic and maturation-state-dependent pattern of growth. Upon entering the CNS, the growth cone-tipped primary axon sprouted numerous long filopodial processes, many of which appeared to undergo repeated cycles of extension and retraction. The growth cone was transformed into a sensory arbor through the formation of secondary branches that extended within the ganglionic neuropil along the anterior-posterior axis of the CNS. Numerous tertiary and quaternary processes grew from these branches and also displayed cycles of extension and retraction. The motility of these higher-order branches changed with age, with younger afferents displaying higher densities and greater motility than older, more mature sensory arbors. Finally, coincident with a reduction in higher order projections was the appearance of concavolar structures on the secondary processes. Rows of these indentations suggest the formation of presynaptic en-passant specializations accompanying the developmental onset of synapse formation.

The proprotein convertase PC5A and a metalloprotease are involved in the proteolytic processing of the neural adhesion molecule L1

The transmembrane and multidomain neural adhesion molecule L1 plays important functional roles in the developing and adult nervous system. L1 is proteolytically processed at two distinct sites within the extracellular domain, leading to the generation of different fragments. In this report, we present evidence that the proprotein convertase PC5A is the protease that cleaves L1 in the third fibronectin type III domain, whereas the proprotein convertases furin, PC1, PC2, PACE4, and PC7 are not effective in cleaving L1. Analysis of mutations revealed Arg(845) to be the site of cleavage generating the N-terminal 140-kDa fragment. This fragment was present in the hippocampus, which expresses PC5A, but was not detectable in the cerebellum, which does not express PC5A. The 140-kDa L1 fragment was found to be tightly associated with the full-length 200-kDa L1 molecule. The complex dissociated from the membrane upon cleavage by a protease acting at a more membrane-proximal site of full-length L1. This proteolytic cleavage was inhibited by the metalloprotease inhibitor GM 6001 and enhanced by a calmodulin inhibitor. L1-dependent neurite outgrowth of cerebellar neurons was inhibited by GM 6001, suggesting that proteolytic processing of L1 by a metalloprotease is involved in neurite outgrowth.

Proteolytic cleavage of the ectodomain of the L1 CAM family member Tractin

Tractin is a member of the L1 family of cell adhesion molecules in leech. Immunoblot analysis suggests that Tractin is constitutively cleaved in vivo at a proteolytic site with the sequence RKRRSR. This sequence conforms to the consensus sequence for cleavage by members of the furin family of convertases, and this proteolytic site is shared by a majority of other L1 family members. We provide evidence with furin-specific inhibitor experiments, by site-specific mutagenesis of Tractin constructs expressed in S2 cells, as well as by Tractin expression in furin-deficient LoVo cells that a furin convertase is the likely protease mediating this processing. Cross-immunoprecipitations with Tractin domain-specific antibodies suggest that the resulting NH(2)- and COOH-terminal cleavage fragments interact with each other and that this interaction provides a means for the NH(2)-terminal fragment to be tethered to the membrane. Furthermore, in S2 cell aggregation assays we show that the NH(2)-terminal fragment is necessary for homophilic adhesion and that cells expressing only the transmembrane COOH-terminal fragment are non-adhesive. However, tethering of exogeneously provided Tractin NH(2)-terminal fragment to S2 cells expressing only the COOH-terminal fragment can functionally restore the adhesive properties of Tractin.